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By Alex MoralesBLOOMBERG NEWS • Sunday January 26, 2014 10:37 AM

LONDON — A quarter of the world’s sharks and rays probably are threatened with extinction,
according to an extensive assessment of the marine species.

Thresher sharks, sawfishes and angel sharks are the most threatened families, according to a
study by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, which publishes the Red List of
endangered species. Twenty-five species had the highest risk level and were deemed critically
endangered.

“Sharks and their relatives are facing an alarmingly elevated risk of extinction,” said Nick
Dulvy, a researcher at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia and co-chair of the IUCN’s Shark
Specialist Group. “In greatest peril are the largest species of rays and sharks, especially those
living in shallow water that is accessible to fisheries.”

Overfishing is the main threat, with many of the sharks and rays caught unintentionally,
according to the union.

The researchers examined 1,041 species of rays, sharks and so-called chimera, which are closely
related. They determined that 25 are critically endangered, 43 are endangered and 113 are
vulnerable to extinction.

Almost half of the species, 487, had insufficient data to determine a category. By applying the
findings for the data-sufficient fish to these, the researchers estimated that 249 species, or 24
percent, are likely to be threatened.

The study, by 302 researchers in 64 nations, was published in the journal
eLIFE.